A common problem encountered by computer users is running out of storage space on media such as hard disk drives on personal computers. The need for additional storage space is increasing as more and more software is being sold on high density media such as CDs, and more and more information is being downloaded from on-line services such as the Internet. All of this contributes to a computer's primary magnetic media storage devices filling up faster than ever. Even with the use of data compression utilities, storage space fills quickly.
Concomitant with the need to find more storage space is the need to manage the massive amount of data being stored on computers. Users need to clear space for new data and programs. Thus, in order to make room for additional data, there is a need for a tool or method which can help a user efficiently and easily identify the best data to be removed.
Many prior art file managers like Microsoft Windows File Manager or Windows Explorer simply illustrate the tree-structure of the directories and files on the computer. These file managers do not allow the user to quickly, easily and graphically determine what files and directories of files are unnecessarily taking up too much space.
The WinSurfer product developed by Ben Shneiderman, Brian Johnson, David Turo and/or Marko Teittinen and belonging to the University of Maryland teaches the use of nested rectangles to illustrate the tree-structure and relative sizes of files and directories. Each directory or file is represented by a rectangle whose size is proportional to the size of the directory or file. If a particular directory contains other directories or files, then those other directories or files are shown as rectangles within the rectangle associated with the particular directory. Because the program apparently simply divides rectangles, many of the rectangles are very long and thin which makes it difficult to gauge the size of the rectangles in relation to one another. The product's failure to control the dimensions of the rectangles also makes it difficult to annotate the rectangles with meaningful information such as text. Further, the shapes of the rectangles are not chosen to maximize the number of rectangles displayed.
There is, therefore, a need for a file management system which addresses the disadvantages of the prior art.